Asbestos scare in Parramatta

Asbestos scare in Parramatta

BY OWEN RICHARDS

SYDNEY — The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union has banned construction work on the old David Jones site in Parramatta here after discovering asbestos. CFMEU state secretary Andrew Ferguson declared the ban on June 6 after visiting the site.

The developer, ICA Property, could also be liable to prosecution after a NSW WorkCover spokesperson confirmed the presence of malthoid, a waterproofing material that contains asbestos, in a publicly exposed skip bin.

The bin is less than 50 metres from public picnic areas, a pedestrian walkway along the Parramatta River and a major car park. Many use the laneway in which the bin sits as a public shortcut.

According to CFMEU media secretary Phil Davies, the bin has been at the entrance to the site since November. The contents of the bin, a mix of rubble, plastic and malthoid, are usually removed quickly by the company. This time, however, management has been caught red-handed, with the bin's contents exposed and still unmoved.

Since November, at least 50 workers have been daily exposed to the bin, which contains the second most dangerous form of asbestos, the friable, white variety.

Steve Keenan, a CFMEU member with seven years experience in the asbestos disposal industry, said that the bin was so dangerous that it "should be covered in plastic, all fenced off, with barricades and everything".

According to Keenan, the asbestos should be taken to one of three licensed asbestos disposal tips in NSW. The company, however, has been sending the asbestos to a public tip in Matraville, which is not licensed for asbestos disposal.

An ICA Property safety audit of the site gave the all clear, but the union has found many safety breaches involving exposure to asbestos. According to Davies, the company's paperwork for the safety clearance has since "disappeared".

He also indicated that this most recent incident was not an aberration, but part of ICA's ongoing corporate irresponsibility.

The company, he said, has a policy of hiring mostly Cambodian workers for its asbestos removal. The Cambodian workers, often with poor English skills, are less unionised and therefore less able to defend themselves against mistreatment.

From GLW issue 409